AURORA – A new company in Aurora aims to prevent many sports injuries from occurring through proactive testing.

Injury Armored is a newly formed athletic testing company located at 1222 N. Eola Road in Aurora. It is headed by seasoned sports therapist Mark Turner. Turner has built a local and national reputation as a “sports medical guru,” the Injury Armored website touts. A former college and professional football player, Turner has spent more than 20 years working with athletes and their injuries.

At Injury Armored, the goal is to pre-diagnose potential season-ending or career-ending injuries before they happen. In just 45 minutes, Injury Armored’s unique, computerized muscle testing results can answer many serious questions or concerns that an athlete might have about future injury risk.

Before going through the computerized muscle testing, the patient will be looked at by Turner and staff as a pre-checkup. The patient will be observed when asked to perform certain stretches or exercises. By observing possible deficiencies, Turner and his assistants gain insights about what weaknesses they can expect when they begin the computerized, muscle testing session.

The diagnosis process consists of a series of computerized muscle tests with medical evaluations and therapeutic observations designed to identify and assess risk factors for potential injury. The muscle testing is done through a computerized device that measures the amount of force in pounds provided by the certain muscle. Two examples of the tests done include hip hinging and shoulder abduction.

Patients are then provided with a risk assessment based off the results.

In the risk assessment, there are three ratings the patient can receive. There is a low risk to injury, a moderate risk and a high risk. If the patient receives a moderate to high risk of injury in a specific area, Turner and staff will give the athlete a training program in order to strengthen that certain weakness. By doing this, the assessment gives athletes a pathway to greater performance in their sport.

Once the risk assessment is given to the patient, the patient is expected to work on the areas in which he or she needs improvement. Provided that the patient does so, the computerized muscle test is conducted four to five months later to see whether there has been an advance in the previous weakness.

“The good thing about the computerized muscle test is that after the athlete has been given his deficits and the appropriate exercises, it’s suggested that the athlete re-test it again four to five months later and see how those deficits have cleaned up,” Turner said.

According to its website, Injury Armored is working with multiple college programs this fall such as Miami (Ohio) University, University of Illinois and Eastern Michigan University. It has also worked with the Chicago Bears and Olympic gymnasts and track athletes. Injury Armored is expanding into high school sports, too.

“We have commitments from Naperville North and Naperville Central. We are talking with Marmion as well,” Turner said.

Montini football defensive lineman Dylan Thompson has recently tested with Injury Armored. Thompson has committed to play football at Ohio State starting next year.

“I thought [Injury Armored] was a great way to get looked at,” Thompson said. “There were a lot of things I didn’t know about myself. I found out that a couple of body parts on my left side were stronger than ones on my right side. Now that they have told me what I can work on, I am going to work on that now to keep my strength up, and it will prevent a lot of injuries for me.

“By doing this, I hope I can stay healthy and get the Montini Broncos to another state championship game.”